Canadian Underwriter

Topic
Reinsurance


James Gasco
News AnnouncementsAppointmentsReinsuranceRisk

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions names new head of Canada

June 13, 2023 by David Gambrill

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has appointed James Gasco head of Canada for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, effective Sept. 1, 2023. Gasco succeeds Adrian Hall, who moves to London to become Head UK, Ireland, South Africa, and EMEA Wholesale for Swiss

Businesswoman calculating finances in an office
News InsuranceMarkets / CoveragesReinsuranceRisk

OSFI to review earthquake risk and minimum capital tests 

May 25, 2023 by Jason Contant

Canada’s solvency regulator will take a closer look at earthquake risk and the minimum capital test (MCT) for P&C insurers, an executive from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said during an industry event last week.  Earthquake

Conceptual image of a businessman as Atlas with the world on his shoulders.
News BrokersCatastrophesClimate ChangeInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesReinsurance

What kind of retentions insurers took on during reinsurance renewals

April 24, 2023 by David Gambrill

Although pricing caught most people’s attention during the January reinsurance renewal season, the terms and conditions were restricted, contributing to why Canada’s primary insurers are retaining more risk for high-frequency secondary perils. “Over the last number of years, there’s been

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News CatastrophesEarnings / RatingsInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesReinsurance

Why consumers may feel the impact of higher reinsurance costs for insurers

April 19, 2023 by David Gambrill

Canada’s primary insurers will need to run at sustained combined operating ratios of 95% or lower in the future in order to withstand future NatCat losses (and the cost of reinsuring them), without having to pass costs on to consumers,

A leap of faith into 2023 for insurers seeking improved profits
News BrokersCatastrophesEarnings / RatingsInsuranceReinsurance

Will Canada’s 2023 underwriting results track U.S. improvements?

April 19, 2023 Philip Porado

Canadian insurers, like their U.S. counterparts, may see some better underwriting results this year. In the U.S., property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry underwriting results are likely to improve during 2023, in response to significant premium increases in underperforming automobile

Groundhog and shadow, watercolor illustration on a white background, isolated. Postcard to the Groundhog Day.
News Earnings / RatingsInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesReinsurance

2 reasons why Canadian P&C industry’s hard market may linger

April 18, 2023 by David Gambrill

Coming out of the pandemic, the global economic environment still contains two ingredients for ongoing hard market conditions in Canada’s P&C insurance sector — high inflation, and a lack of global reinsurance capacity. “If you look at the picture behind

Magnifying glass looking at percent symbol
News Commercial LinesInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesReinsurance

2022 financials: Industry barely keeping pace with inflation

April 12, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

Editor’s Note: This updated version of the article corrects the industry’s net investment income from -$61,400 to -$61.4 million. And $1.1 million OCI has been updated to $1.1 billion. Canadian Underwriter apologizes for the errors.   A combined ratio of

Red question mark beside a wooden block with a percent symbol
News Commercial LinesInsuranceReinsurance

What we can expect from future reinsurance renewals

April 11, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

The economic parameters that marked a tough reinsurance cycle in 2023 won’t be going anywhere in the next year, experts predict in a Canadian Underwriter webinar.   However, the extreme rate increases that insurers saw this year won’t be sustainable

News CatastrophesClaimsInsuranceReinsurance

What’s driving Canadian insurers’ reinsurance rates?

April 6, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

An exceedingly tough reinsurance cycle saw insurers quoted double digit rate increases upon the Jan. 1 2023 renewal. Some portfolios without a significant loss history saw increases of 25% to 30%, while other portfolios with losses saw their reinsurance rate

Large commercial building under construction.
News BrokersCommercial LinesConstructionInsuranceReinsurance

Where brokers writing construction coverage may see bottlenecks

March 31, 2023 Philip Porado

A significant rise in construction projects being submitted in Canada means lead underwriting time is critical, according to a 2023 Q1 Global Construction Rate Trend Report from WTW. “Staffing shortages and underwriting approval processes are causing delays in quote turn-around,”

Bad extreme heavy rain storm weather. Flooded streets of the neighborhood. A flooded road junction with a drowned car. Heavy rains from tropical storm caused many flooded areas.
News CatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesReinsuranceRisk

Feds commit money for new national flood insurance program

March 29, 2023 by David Gambrill

Canada’s federal government finally put numbers to a low-cost flood insurance program, committing $31.7 million over three years to protect households at high risk of flooding and without access to adequate insurance. Details about the program remain up for discussion,

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News Earnings / RatingsInsuranceReinsurance

How the reinsurance sector netted out after renewals

March 23, 2023 by David Gambrill

Inflation took a small bite of out of global reinsurers’ generally profitable combined ratios, and rising interest rates made a 27% dent in the reinsurers’ shareholder equity, but overall the global reinsurance sector came out of 2022 in decent shape,